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Brad Thor: “Disgusting how the mainstream media has let this country down”

July 14, 2015
Staff

WRITER

Brad Thor joined Pat and Stu on radio this morning to discuss his new book, Code of Conduct, and the Iran nuclear deal that was announced the morning. Thor railed against the mainstream media, claiming their lack of intellectual curiosity has allowed the Obama administration to do whatever it wants, regardless of what it means for the country. Thor said the world is now a much more dangerous place because of the Iran deal, and Israel should be scared for its very existence.

Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it may contain errors:

PAT: We're excited to have Brad Thor join us. Brad has a busy week here on the Blaze. Also, he has his book out now called Code of Conduct.

Brad, welcome to the Glenn Beck Program with Pat and Stu.

BRAD: Yeah. I'm glad to be here. And I promised Glenn that when we started this I would share a message with listeners. Glenn forwarded it to me this morning and wants everyone to know that his vocal cord rest is because he was screaming with delight over my new thriller Code of Conduct, which he says --

PAT: Wow.

BRAD: And, Glenn, if you disagree, please call in right now, Glenn, if you contest this. If you disagree. If I read your note wrong. But he said it is the best thriller he has ever read in his life. Is the phone ringing? Nope. There you go.

Best thriller of his life. Thank you, Glenn. Those words mean so much to me, my dear friend. Thank you.

STU: That message obviously approved by Glenn Beck, because he's not called in to dispute it.

PAT: Still not called in. That's great.

BRAD: So there you go.

PAT: So, Brad, how are you excited you about peace in our time? Not since Neville Chamberlain and his announcement have we felt this relaxed in the world and this safe and this secure. Thank you to the new Neville Chamberlain, Barack Obama. This is fantastic news. Are you as excited as we are about the deal with Iran?

BRAD: I have to tell you, there is nothing more -- I'm a race fan. Whether it's NASCAR or New Proliferation, I love races. So I can't wait to see this arms race kick off in the Middle East. I'm telling you, my money is on the Saudis. I like the way they operate. They're smooth, they're lean, they're fast. I think we'll see them spin up a program really quick.

I have to tell you, it will be exciting. We live in interesting times. We definitely do. And I'm going to start buying jerseys. I'm going to get Sunni jerseys. I'm going to go long on the Shia jerseys. I don't know. But, yeah, it is exciting. Very exciting.

STU: Brad, you've been writing not only international events, but this particular region for a long time. Going back to several books you have released which have essentially predicted the news, you know, Blacklist being the most recent, which essentially predicted the Snowden thing to an incredible amount of deal a couple years when it happened. So when you look at this, you're not just a guy who writes really entertaining thrillers. You're a guy who does a lot of research. Who looks at this stuff and is able to digest it in a way that -- can bring it to people in way they can actually understand it. When you look at this and the way the president and the media are reacting to the Iran deal, what does it make you think?

BRAD: Well, what's interesting is that the lack of curiosity ever about Barack Obama and why he does what he does has always dumbfounded me.

PAT: Yes.

BRAD: The media is so biased.

PAT: Oh, my gosh.

BRAD: And I know you never talk about that on your program. We talk about what bulldogs they are in the media. This is insane. I mean, this guy, Barack Obama, has managed to unite Sunni Muslims with Israel. I can't remember the last time I saw Israel and Sunni Muslims standing on the same side. I mean, it's astounding.

This is very, very bad. Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world. Now we're going to flood them with money and a nuke program, and we all expect this is going to end well. I really want to say this. To ABC, to NBC, to CBS, to PBS, to CNN, you all have let your country down. It is disgusting how the mainstream media has let this country down. And the world has just become a dramatically more dangerous place with this agreement because of this administration.

And, you know what, Israel should be terrified. In fact, I put out a tweet a little while ago and I said, you know what, Israel should have bombed Iran while they still had a friend in the White House. They should have done it while George Bush was in the White House. And they didn't. And I think that's a historic missed opportunity that the Israelis will regret and history will remember.

PAT: No question. No question. And I can't wait though to see some of the details of this deal which we've promised eliminates every pathway to a nuclear weapon for the Iranians. I -- I can't wait to see it. He's already promised to veto it anyway. So it's a done deal. It's a foregone conclusion. But you're right. It's just -- it's aggravating to watch. And it's frustrating to see the support he has in the media, rather than being watchdogs, they become lapdogs. But tell us about the new book. What is Code of Conduct about?

BRAD: So Code of Conduct is my new thriller. It came out last week. We are expecting tomorrow to find out a huge, huge placement on the New York Times best-seller's list. This is the most exciting thriller I've ever written. And it's based on two very, very interesting things. You know, Glenn coined the word faction. And he always says, what Brad Thor does is faction. You don't know where the facts end and the fiction begins.

And as we've talked about on this program before, I like to pick things that are in the news or about to explode in the news and weave them into my thrillers. The two things that I picked this year were back in the '80s, somebody down in Georgia, they don't know if it was Ted Turner or who it was, spent a fortune erecting these huge slabs of granite with this terrifying agenda written in about eight languages on the different slabs. They're calling it the American Stonehenge.

And I always thought, wow, that's bizarre. Out in some farmer's field in rural Georgia. Who would ever put these things up? Then a couple of years ago, I read an article about a very, very secret group within the UN. And I never touched the UN. And I had never written about them before. I thought they were a bunch of bozos. Didn't pay their parking tickets in New York. But I got interested because Ban Ki-Moon held a very secret meeting, rented a shaley in the Austrian Alps. This thing was like out of a Bond movie. And their agenda got leaked from this very secret meeting that he held, and several things on the agenda match up with these stones down in Georgia.

And it was beyond wild. And I said, you know what, this stuff, I can't say no to this. As a thriller writer, this is just too cool. And I'll weave that into Code of Conduct. So Code of Conduct kicks off with four seconds of video being transmitted to the White House that was anonymously captured halfway around the world. And the US government learns that probably one of the most ingenious terrorist attacks will be launched, not only in the US, but every other allied country simultaneously.

PAT: Wow. Looking forward to reading that. That's awesome. Now, don't you have something -- you have like 11 and a half million books in print, in this series.

BRAD: Yep. Correct. And you can read them in any order.

PAT: You don't mind? You probably would like them to start with this one, I would imagine.

BRAD: That is exactly right. This is the book. This is the book you'll see at the beach, at the lake, at the swimming pool. This is the one. And you know what, it's probably my best reviewed book ever, right down to the Associated Press.

PAT: Nice.

BRAD: So it's been great. But I think we come back to Glenn Beck himself who said this is not only Brad Thor's best thriller, but the best thriller he has ever read. And no sit-ups life. Who has time for sit-ups when you're reading Brad Thor novels?

STU: Especially as a guy who has actually written thrillers. It's amazing that he said yours was the best he's ever seen.

PAT: That was really generous of Glenn to say that. But, again, if he disputes that, he can call in right now and mention it.

BRAD: He's a giver. Right now.

STU: Can I ask one somewhat sensitive question here? I don't know how delicate you can be on this. And I don't want you to have to bite the hand that feeds you. But I'm interested to see, because you as you've talked about, Code of Conduct, about to be big time placement on the New York Times best-sellers list. A book written by a guy named Ted Cruz was recently released.

And he, despite outselling 18 of the 20 books on the best-seller list for the New York Times, was not included on the best-sellers list of the New York Times. He was accused of strategic bulk purchases, which not only does the publisher completely discount, but Amazon.com has come out and made a public statement that that did not happen.

Are you sick of the politics when it comes around this? Why can't we -- I mean, this is a number of books sold. It's a really easy way to find out how many books you sold.

PAT: When you think best-seller, you would think books that sell the best, wouldn't you?

BRAD: Right.

STU: Is it a thing we're imagining as far as agenda goes, or does that sort of thing actually exist?

BRAD: Well, first of all, let me take Pat to task. Pat, I'm an author. And my stock and trade is words. So I don't like when you play word games like that. Best-seller. It means selling a lot.

I think the American people have had enough of that kind of --

PAT: That kind of spin?

BRAD: Chicanery. Can we just stop that, please?

PAT: I apologize.

BRAD: Thank you, Pat.

But, yeah, listen, O'Reilly hates the New York Times. In fact, you know, he quotes other sources. He quotes the conservative book clubs list. And, in fact, O'Reilly even recently went after Publishers Weekly because he was complaining they didn't put his book Killing Reagan in their roundup of big fall books that were upcoming.

Listen, conservative, people to the right of center have had a lot of trouble with the New York Times' list because they will sell. The numbers are there. Then the New York Times will quote its own secret formula, saying, oh, it doesn't qualify or make the list.

The belief is, why would bias be absent from that list when bias isn't absent from any other nook or cranny of the New York Times? Stu, you're right. I say this to my own peril. They could be shifting the numbers right now to knock me out.

PAT: They sure could.

BRAD: My last three have been number one. We'll see what happens tomorrow. They could be sitting there. I'm sure they listen to this program, number one. So I just shot myself in the foot. You know --

STU: You're welcome, by the way. Brad.

BRAD: Yeah, the bias exists. So I think Ted Cruz has a valid complaint. So does his publisher. And I think Amazon, God bless them, that's really what they needed to put it over the top. And to say to the New York Times, okay, you proved it. Show us where these bulk purchases were. So I thought that was brilliant. And God bless Amazon for not taking a political -- just coming out and saying this is true.

PAT: Yeah, it was great. I'm really curious about who your influences were when you were coming up as a writer. Was there anybody that you kind of looked up to?

BRAD: Oh, you know what, I always tell young writers that you can't be a good writer without being a great reader. And that if you're looking for what to write. If you're a writer that wants to write, you should write what you love to read because that's what your passion is.

For me, I grew up Clancy. (all phonetic) Luke Haray. Freddie Foresife. Just amazing. And Louie La More. I like the western writer. Elmore Leonard. Some real greats in -- in fiction. So they definitely all influenced me. But I love the Cold War espionage stuff. And I'm a big fan still of guys still like Vince Flynn. God rest his soul. By the way, I know there's a lot of Vince Flynn fans in the audience. I got great news. I was thrilled to hear my buddy Kyle Mills, who is an actor, got selected by Vince's estate to carry on the Mitch Rapp character. And all the advanced praise for The Survivor is just awesome. So Vince's Mitch Rapp is coming back this fall in The Survivor. And I'm even excited to read it because that Mitch Rapp character is great. So after you read Code of Conduct, my new thriller which Glenn says is the best one he's ever read, I would highly recommend The Survivor. Vince Flynn and Kyle Mills.

STU: Awesome.

PAT: Okay. The book again is Code of Conduct. And the author, Brad Thor. Who will also be appearing later this week on radio again and also hosting Glenn's TV show on Thursday night during our month of terror shows. Thursday night's special focuses on national security terror alerts. We're excited to see you then too, Brad. Thank you for joining us.

BRAD: My pleasure. By the way, update from Glenn here, you both have just been given a 25 percent raise. Glenn, if I read that wrong, please call in now. So good news. What a day.

STU: I like this.

PAT: Great day, thanks, Brad.

STU: We need to manipulate the choice structure like this a little more often. This is good Cass Sunstein stuff we're pulling off. I like it.

Is the U.N. plotting to control 30% of U.S. land by 2030?

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

A reliable conservative senator faces cancellation for listening to voters. But the real threat to public lands comes from the last president’s backdoor globalist agenda.

Something ugly is unfolding on social media, and most people aren’t seeing it clearly. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) — one of the most constitutionally grounded conservatives in Washington — is under fire for a housing provision he first proposed in 2022.

You wouldn’t know that from scrolling through X. According to the latest online frenzy, Lee wants to sell off national parks, bulldoze public lands, gut hunting and fishing rights, and hand America’s wilderness to Amazon, BlackRock, and the Chinese Communist Party. None of that is true.

Lee’s bill would have protected against the massive land-grab that’s already under way — courtesy of the Biden administration.

I covered this last month. Since then, the backlash has grown into something like a political witch hunt — not just from the left but from the right. Even Donald Trump Jr., someone I typically agree with, has attacked Lee’s proposal. He’s not alone.

Time to look at the facts the media refuses to cover about Lee’s federal land plan.

What Lee actually proposed

Over the weekend, Lee announced that he would withdraw the federal land sale provision from his housing bill. He said the decision was in response to “a tremendous amount of misinformation — and in some cases, outright lies,” but also acknowledged that many Americans brought forward sincere, thoughtful concerns.

Because of the strict rules surrounding the budget reconciliation process, Lee couldn’t secure legally enforceable protections to ensure that the land would be made available “only to American families — not to China, not to BlackRock, and not to any foreign interests.” Without those safeguards, he chose to walk it back.

That’s not selling out. That’s leadership.

It's what the legislative process is supposed to look like: A senator proposes a bill, the people respond, and the lawmaker listens. That was once known as representative democracy. These days, it gets you labeled a globalist sellout.

The Biden land-grab

To many Americans, “public land” brings to mind open spaces for hunting, fishing, hiking, and recreation. But that’s not what Sen. Mike Lee’s bill targeted.

His proposal would have protected against the real land-grab already under way — the one pushed by the Biden administration.

In 2021, Biden launched a plan to “conserve” 30% of America’s lands and waters by 2030. This effort follows the United Nations-backed “30 by 30” initiative, which seeks to place one-third of all land and water under government control.

Ask yourself: Is the U.N. focused on preserving your right to hunt and fish? Or are radical environmentalists exploiting climate fears to restrict your access to American land?

  Smith Collection/Gado / Contributor | Getty Images

As it stands, the federal government already owns 640 million acres — nearly one-third of the entire country. At this rate, the government will hit that 30% benchmark with ease. But it doesn’t end there. The next phase is already in play: the “50 by 50” agenda.

That brings me to a piece of legislation most Americans haven’t even heard of: the Sustains Act.

Passed in 2023, the law allows the federal government to accept private funding from organizations, such as BlackRock or the Bill Gates Foundation, to support “conservation programs.” In practice, the law enables wealthy elites to buy influence over how American land is used and managed.

Moreover, the government doesn’t even need the landowner’s permission to declare that your property contributes to “pollination,” or “photosynthesis,” or “air quality” — and then regulate it accordingly. You could wake up one morning and find out that the land you own no longer belongs to you in any meaningful sense.

Where was the outrage then? Where were the online crusaders when private capital and federal bureaucrats teamed up to quietly erode private property rights across America?

American families pay the price

The real danger isn’t in Mike Lee’s attempt to offer more housing near population centers — land that would be limited, clarified, and safeguarded in the final bill. The real threat is the creeping partnership between unelected global elites and our own government, a partnership designed to consolidate land, control rural development, and keep Americans penned in so-called “15-minute cities.”

BlackRock buying entire neighborhoods and pricing out regular families isn’t by accident. It’s part of a larger strategy to centralize populations into manageable zones, where cars are unnecessary, rural living is unaffordable, and every facet of life is tracked, regulated, and optimized.

That’s the real agenda. And it’s already happening , and Mike Lee’s bill would have been an effort to ensure that you — not BlackRock, not China — get first dibs.

I live in a town of 451 people. Even here, in the middle of nowhere, housing is unaffordable. The American dream of owning a patch of land is slipping away, not because of one proposal from a constitutional conservative, but because global powers and their political allies are already devouring it.

Divide and conquer

This controversy isn’t really about Mike Lee. It’s about whether we, as a nation, are still capable of having honest debates about public policy — or whether the online mob now controls the narrative. It’s about whether conservatives will focus on facts or fall into the trap of friendly fire and circular firing squads.

More importantly, it’s about whether we’ll recognize the real land-grab happening in our country — and have the courage to fight back before it’s too late.


This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

URGENT: FIVE steps to CONTROL AI before it's too late!

MANAURE QUINTERO / Contributor | Getty Images

By now, many of us are familiar with AI and its potential benefits and threats. However, unless you're a tech tycoon, it can feel like you have little influence over the future of artificial intelligence.

For years, Glenn has warned about the dangers of rapidly developing AI technologies that have taken the world by storm.

He acknowledges their significant benefits but emphasizes the need to establish proper boundaries and ethics now, while we still have control. But since most people aren’t Silicon Valley tech leaders making the decisions, how can they help keep AI in check?

Recently, Glenn interviewed Tristan Harris, a tech ethicist deeply concerned about the potential harm of unchecked AI, to discuss its societal implications. Harris highlighted a concerning new piece of legislation proposed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz. This legislation proposes a state-level moratorium on AI regulation, meaning only the federal government could regulate AI. Harris noted that there’s currently no Federal plan for regulating AI. Until the federal government establishes a plan, tech companies would have nearly free rein with their AI. And we all know how slowly the federal government moves.

  

This is where you come in. Tristan Harris shared with Glenn the top five actions you should urge your representatives to take regarding AI, including opposing the moratorium until a concrete plan is in place. Now is your chance to influence the future of AI. Contact your senator and congressman today and share these five crucial steps they must take to keep AI in check:

Ban engagement-optimized AI companions for kids

Create legislation that will prevent AI from being designed to maximize addiction, sexualization, flattery, and attachment disorders, and to protect young people’s mental health and ability to form real-life friendships.

Establish basic liability laws

Companies need to be held accountable when their products cause real-world harm.

Pass increased whistleblower protections

Protect concerned technologists working inside the AI labs from facing untenable pressures and threats that prevent them from warning the public when the AI rollout is unsafe or crosses dangerous red lines.

Prevent AI from having legal rights

Enact laws so AIs don’t have protected speech or have their own bank accounts, making sure our legal system works for human interests over AI interests.

Oppose the state moratorium on AI 

Call your congressman or Senator Cruz’s office, and demand they oppose the state moratorium on AI without a plan for how we will set guardrails for this technology.

Glenn: Only Trump dared to deliver on decades of empty promises

Tasos Katopodis / Stringer | Getty Images

The Islamic regime has been killing Americans since 1979. Now Trump’s response proves we’re no longer playing defense — we’re finally hitting back.

The United States has taken direct military action against Iran’s nuclear program. Whatever you think of the strike, it’s over. It’s happened. And now, we have to predict what happens next. I want to help you understand the gravity of this situation: what happened, what it means, and what might come next. To that end, we need to begin with a little history.

Since 1979, Iran has been at war with us — even if we refused to call it that.

We are either on the verge of a remarkable strategic victory or a devastating global escalation. Time will tell.

It began with the hostage crisis, when 66 Americans were seized and 52 were held for over a year by the radical Islamic regime. Four years later, 17 more Americans were murdered in the U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut, followed by 241 Marines in the Beirut barracks bombing.

Then came the Khobar Towers bombing in 1996, which killed 19 more U.S. airmen. Iran had its fingerprints all over it.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, Iranian-backed proxies killed hundreds of American soldiers. From 2001 to 2020 in Afghanistan and 2003 to 2011 in Iraq, Iran supplied IEDs and tactical support.

The Iranians have plotted assassinations and kidnappings on U.S. soil — in 2011, 2021, and again in 2024 — and yet we’ve never really responded.

The precedent for U.S. retaliation has always been present, but no president has chosen to pull the trigger until this past weekend. President Donald Trump struck decisively. And what our military pulled off this weekend was nothing short of extraordinary.

Operation Midnight Hammer

The strike was reportedly called Operation Midnight Hammer. It involved as many as 175 U.S. aircraft, including 12 B-2 stealth bombers — out of just 19 in our entire arsenal. Those bombers are among the most complex machines in the world, and they were kept mission-ready by some of the finest mechanics on the planet.

   USAF / Handout | Getty Images

To throw off Iranian radar and intelligence, some bombers flew west toward Guam — classic misdirection. The rest flew east, toward the real targets.

As the B-2s approached Iranian airspace, U.S. submarines launched dozens of Tomahawk missiles at Iran’s fortified nuclear facilities. Minutes later, the bombers dropped 14 MOPs — massive ordnance penetrators — each designed to drill deep into the earth and destroy underground bunkers. These bombs are the size of an F-16 and cost millions of dollars apiece. They are so accurate, I’ve been told they can hit the top of a soda can from 15,000 feet.

They were built for this mission — and we’ve been rehearsing this run for 15 years.

If the satellite imagery is accurate — and if what my sources tell me is true — the targeted nuclear sites were utterly destroyed. We’ll likely rely on the Israelis to confirm that on the ground.

This was a master class in strategy, execution, and deterrence. And it proved that only the United States could carry out a strike like this. I am very proud of our military, what we are capable of doing, and what we can accomplish.

What comes next

We don’t yet know how Iran will respond, but many of the possibilities are troubling. The Iranians could target U.S. forces across the Middle East. On Monday, Tehran launched 20 missiles at U.S. bases in Qatar, Syria, and Kuwait, to no effect. God forbid, they could also unleash Hezbollah or other terrorist proxies to strike here at home — and they just might.

Iran has also threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz — the artery through which nearly a fifth of the world’s oil flows. On Sunday, Iran’s parliament voted to begin the process. If the Supreme Council and the ayatollah give the go-ahead, we could see oil prices spike to $150 or even $200 a barrel.

That would be catastrophic.

The 2008 financial collapse was pushed over the edge when oil hit $130. Western economies — including ours — simply cannot sustain oil above $120 for long. If this conflict escalates and the Strait is closed, the global economy could unravel.

The strike also raises questions about regime stability. Will it spark an uprising, or will the Islamic regime respond with a brutal crackdown on dissidents?

Early signs aren’t hopeful. Reports suggest hundreds of arrests over the weekend and at least one dissident executed on charges of spying for Israel. The regime’s infamous morality police, the Gasht-e Ershad, are back on the streets. Every phone, every vehicle — monitored. The U.S. embassy in Qatar issued a shelter-in-place warning for Americans.

Russia and China both condemned the strike. On Monday, a senior Iranian official flew to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin. That meeting should alarm anyone paying attention. Their alliance continues to deepen — and that’s a serious concern.

Now we pray

We are either on the verge of a remarkable strategic victory or a devastating global escalation. Time will tell. But either way, President Trump didn’t start this. He inherited it — and he took decisive action.

The difference is, he did what they all said they would do. He didn’t send pallets of cash in the dead of night. He didn’t sign another failed treaty.

He acted. Now, we pray. For peace, for wisdom, and for the strength to meet whatever comes next.


This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Globalize the Intifada? Why Mamdani’s plan spells DOOM for America

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

If New Yorkers hand City Hall to Zohran Mamdani, they’re not voting for change. They’re opening the door to an alliance of socialism, Islamism, and chaos.

It only took 25 years for New York City to go from the resilient, flag-waving pride following the 9/11 attacks to a political fever dream. To quote Michael Malice, “I'm old enough to remember when New Yorkers endured 9/11 instead of voting for it.”

Malice is talking about Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist assemblyman from Queens now eyeing the mayor’s office. Mamdani, a 33-year-old state representative emerging from relative political obscurity, is now receiving substantial funding for his mayoral campaign from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

CAIR has a long and concerning history, including being born out of the Muslim Brotherhood and named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror funding case. Why would the group have dropped $100,000 into a PAC backing Mamdani’s campaign?

Mamdani blends political Islam with Marxist economics — two ideologies that have left tens of millions dead in the 20th century alone.

Perhaps CAIR has a vested interest in Mamdani’s call to “globalize the intifada.” That’s not a call for peaceful protest. Intifada refers to historic uprisings of Muslims against what they call the “Israeli occupation of Palestine.” Suicide bombings and street violence are part of the playbook. So when Mamdani says he wants to “globalize” that, who exactly is the enemy in this global scenario? Because it sure sounds like he's saying America is the new Israel, and anyone who supports Western democracy is the new Zionist.

Mamdani tried to clean up his language by citing the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which once used “intifada” in an Arabic-language article to describe the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. So now he’s comparing Palestinians to Jewish victims of the Nazis? If that doesn’t twist your stomach into knots, you’re not paying attention.

If you’re “globalizing” an intifada, and positioning Israel — and now America — as the Nazis, that’s not a cry for human rights. That’s a call for chaos and violence.

Rising Islamism

But hey, this is New York. Faculty members at Columbia University — where Mamdani’s own father once worked — signed a letter defending students who supported Hamas after October 7. They also contributed to Mamdani’s mayoral campaign. And his father? He blamed Ronald Reagan and the religious right for inspiring Islamic terrorism, as if the roots of 9/11 grew in Washington, not the caves of Tora Bora.

   Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

 

This isn’t about Islam as a faith. We should distinguish between Islam and Islamism. Islam is a religion followed peacefully by millions. Islamism is something entirely different — an ideology that seeks to merge mosque and state, impose Sharia law, and destroy secular liberal democracies from within. Islamism isn’t about prayer and fasting. It’s about power.

Criticizing Islamism is not Islamophobia. It is not an attack on peaceful Muslims. In fact, Muslims are often its first victims.

Islamism is misogynistic, theocratic, violent, and supremacist. It’s hostile to free speech, religious pluralism, gay rights, secularism — even to moderate Muslims. Yet somehow, the progressive left — the same left that claims to fight for feminism, LGBTQ rights, and free expression — finds itself defending candidates like Mamdani. You can’t make this stuff up.

Blending the worst ideologies

And if that weren’t enough, Mamdani also identifies as a Democratic Socialist. He blends political Islam with Marxist economics — two ideologies that have left tens of millions dead in the 20th century alone. But don’t worry, New York. I’m sure this time socialism will totally work. Just like it always didn’t.

If you’re a business owner, a parent, a person who’s saved anything, or just someone who values sanity: Get out. I’m serious. If Mamdani becomes mayor, as seems likely, then New York City will become a case study in what happens when you marry ideological extremism with political power. And it won’t be pretty.

This is about more than one mayoral race. It’s about the future of Western liberalism. It’s about drawing a bright line between faith and fanaticism, between healthy pluralism and authoritarian dogma.

Call out radicalism

We must call out political Islam the same way we call out white nationalism or any other supremacist ideology. When someone chants “globalize the intifada,” that should send a chill down your spine — whether you’re Jewish, Christian, Muslim, atheist, or anything in between.

The left may try to shame you into silence with words like “Islamophobia,” but the record is worn out. The grooves are shallow. The American people see what’s happening. And we’re not buying it.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.